WASHINGTON-Verizon Communications last week agreed to pay $250,000 to the U.S. Treasury when it could not verify that approximately 34,000 customers had not been switched to Verizon Long Distance without their consent, a process known as slamming.As part of the consent decree, Verizon also...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless launched its National Prepay Wireless service.A specially-priced starter kit now is available. Customers who purchase a starter time card beginning at $30 and one of several tri-mode mobile phones get a mail-in rebate for two $30 prepay cards.Replenishment cards come in...
NEW YORK-The $41.6 billion bid by Deutsche Telekom AG for VoiceStream Wireless Corp. was the largest merger announced last quarter and the second-largest during the first nine months of this year, Mergerstat L.P., Los Angeles, reported.The semiconductor sector, with mergers totaling $49.5 billion, led...
WASHINGTON-Just because the telecommunications industry is urging the Federal Communications Commission to order the cable industry to open up its cable modem platform to competing Internet service providers, that does not mean the FCC should require "open access" on all platforms-including wireless, said John...
VIENNA, Va.-Focusing on customer-based applications is ruining the potential of the wireless industry as demonstrated last week by the dip of Motorola Inc.'s stock price, said W. Kevin Hazzard, director of wireless services for Whitlock EBS.Wireless Web products were oversold in Europe, leading to...
WASHINGTON-While President Clinton and FCC Chairman William Kennard called on federal agencies, broadcasters and others to take steps to free up spectrum for third-generation wireless services, allegations surfaced last week that the administration lobbied against legislation that could have accomplished the same thing and...
LOS ANGELES-Verizon Wireless and Motorola Inc. are donating 100 pre-programmed digital wireless phones and free airtime to eight domestic violence prevention programs in the Los Angeles area as part of Call to Protect, a national education and philanthropic initiative to help victims of domestic...
NEW YORK-Verizon Wireless added 806,000 new customers during the third quarter of this year, a 35-percent increase in net additions compared with third quarter results last year from the combined U.S. wireless properties of Bell Atlantic Corp., Vodafone Group and GTE Corp.The additions put...
MONROE, La.-CenturyTel Inc. completed its purchase of approximately 133,000 telephone lines from Verizon Communications in Wisconsin for $364 million in cash in two separate transactions.The first transactions involved CenturyTel acquiring 70,500 access lines in 42 Wisconsin exchanges for $194 million. The second acquisition, as...
WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court this session has before it three mobile-phone health cases, a sign of things to come in a Digital Age where technology outpaces the law and raises novel questions for the courts.The high court, which returned to work last week, must decide...
NEW YORK-Verizon Communications has unveiled its first bundled offering allowing the residential customer of many of its local telephone companies who purchase any Verizon Wireless digital calling plan of at least $30 per month, or renew an existing wireless plan, to receive free home...
Following months of speculation, regulatory red tape and the seemingly elusive approval by the Federal Communications Commission that came Sept. 29, SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Mobility officially came together last week, announcing its joint venture now will be known as Cingular Wireless."Cingular is...
WASHINGTON-Language to allow the Federal Communications Commission to take back RF licenses from bankrupt entities has been stripped from the FCC spending bill being considered by Congress.Legislation that would allow the FCC to take back the licenses of bankrupt companies was included in a...
Flarion TechnologiesFlarion Technologies, a new company formed to commercialize a wireless data technology for Internet mobility market, announced that Matthew J. Desch has been appointed to a new seat on the company's board of directors. Desch is chairman of Airspan Networks Inc. and former...
Verizon Wireless turned the industry on its ear last week, announcing plans to support legislation in Illinois that would ban cell-phone use while driving unless the caller is using a hands-free device.The decision is "in direct response to the political situation in Illinois and...
NEW YORK-Telecommunications carriers worldwide are under significant pressure due to the bandwidth explosion, rising capital expenditures, competition from new players and delays in commercial rollout of new technologies."I take a cautious view of the telecommunications services world at the moment, although I believe there...
WASHINGTON-Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.) is expected shortly to introduce legislation to reduce the depreciation life of wireless network equipment, one of various tax code changes Congress is considering for the New Economy.A Crane spokesman said the bill, which would reclassify wireless telecom equipment and...
WASHINGTON-There's a reason the waning weeks of Congress are collectively called Silly Season.It is because anything is possible during this fall ritual, when lawmakers scramble-against all odds-to complete spending bills before the start of the new fiscal year and try to pass legislation for...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, having recently declared that state courts are not pre-empted by federal law from awarding monetary damages in wireless consumer fraud lawsuits, has now been asked to rule whether the common mobile phone billing practice of rounding violates the Communications Act.The...
NEW YORK-Wireless users may be free of the wire but not of the clutter. Despite the image of untethered communications, they are burdened with a bevy of devices.Only technology buffs are willing to carry around a bag full of wireless communicators that cannot interact...
Verizon ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among users in nine markets, according to the J.D. Power and Associates "2000 U.S. Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study" released last week.The markets included Boston, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis and Washington/Baltimore....
CHICAGO-At previous wireless industry trade shows, NeoPoint Inc. could be counted on to make significant announcements, guaranteeing throngs of foot traffic around their booth and an overall buzz of excitement.First it was the introduction of its groundbreaking NeoPoint 1000 smart phone. Then it was...
Verizon Wireless' recent announcement that it would back laws restricting the use of cell phones while driving in Illinois may pump fresh life into attempts by local communities across the country to pass such regulations. The decision also showed the first cracks in the...
CHICAGO-The Personal Communications Industry Association Foundation honored individuals and companies with its PCIA Foundation Leadership Awards during last week's PCIA GlobalXChange show.The awards included the Albert Gore Jr. LifePage Achievement Award, presented to companies or individuals who exemplify the program's standards of leadership and...
